


queen for a day

by emeraldcut



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Bromance, Brotp, sassy annie, sassy rio, this is literally just the annie/rio banter the show does not give us but we absolutely deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:56:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27242314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldcut/pseuds/emeraldcut
Summary: Annie gets volunteered to play Beth at a job with Rio. The job includes a road trip. Sass and chaos ensue. Timeline is somewhere in season two, after the girls found out about Brio and pre-shooting.
Relationships: Annie Marks & Rio, Beth Boland & Annie Marks, Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 15
Kudos: 100





	queen for a day

It was noisy. That's what Annie always remembered when she thought about her sister's house—the whir of the dishwasher, kids bickering, zippers clanging in the dryer, video games from Kenny's room, a Disney movie blasting at top volume, the start of a lawn mower, jazz music playing in the office while Dean worked, or fucked off, or whatever it was that he did with his abundant free time. There was so much noise, so much life in the house, that some days Annie went there just to feel alive herself, and those were better than the other days, the days that the fullness of Beth's home pounded and shook her core, the noise rattling the emptiness in her chest, and by default, the emptiness of her own home.

Annie didn't know what gut reaction to expect for the day, but she was reeling from the sheer lack of Sadie at the apartment, and maybe just a little of the shame that came with sleeping with a married man, with Sadie's married father, and single-handedly imploding Nancy's life. Her shoulder sagged at the memory of it, and she sighed, pushing herself forward and stepping through Beth's front door.

It was quiet. No bickering, no videos games, no Disney princesses. Annie stopped at the threshold to the house, hand still on the door, eyes fixed on the ground as she listened, until she finally heard a low drone coming from the kitchen and realized it was the washing machine.

"Beth? You're home, right?" She started moving again, calling out, weaving through the entry and dining room, eyes scanning in search of her sister or any other sign of life, coming to a stop just outside the kitchen, where she had found much more than she signed up for.

Beth was posted in her usual spot at the kitchen island, craning her neck to look around the person across from her and tentatively holding what Annie knew was a glass of bourbon. Rio stood at the opposite side of the counter, his back to Annie, gazing at her from over his shoulder with a blank expression. The room had gone completely still, neither of them moving, watching Annie, and the latter had that very specific feeling one gets when walking into a room and immediately having the occupants drop their conversation.

Annie released a slow, steady sigh, pushing her hands into the front pockets of her jeans. "Am I interrupting something, sis?" she asked, casting a knowing look at Beth.

Beth recovered, tilting her head. "You are," she affirmed, raising a brow.

"Well, hey, don't let me stop you! I mean, no need to get all bashful on my account." Annie turned her attention to Rio and smirked. "Just, uh, for reference, since I'm a little behind on the conversation... Is this for business or pleasure?"

Rio chuckled at the same time that Beth reddened, rolling her eyes, but before Beth could interject again, he was angling his body towards Annie, looking her up and down in a noticeably less indecent way than was his usual MO for Beth. Annie suspected that his current MO was to make her uncomfortable, make her squirm as he stared, but she willed herself to remain steady on her feet and look at him expectantly, like she expected an answer one way or another. "Business," came the slow, deep response, and nothing about his demeanor gave away any ounce of shame about Annie's implication of the relationship he shared with her sister.

Annie feigned surprise, shifting her wide eyes back on Beth. "Looks like I stumbled in at the perfect time. Guess I'll pull up a seat, huh?" She pointed to the cushioned bar stool next to Rio. "This being business and all, and me, you know... being part of the business," she added, her voice accusatory as she barred her teeth at Beth.

"That ain't necessary," Rio quipped.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

Rio reached out and placed a large hand on the back of the chair that Annie had indicated. "Just a lil' above your pay grade is all," he rasped, smirking now, knuckles turning white as his grip tightened.

Annie guffawed, reeling forward as a surge of anger lit up her entire body, coming to rest in her core and building, ready to explode. "What the hell is that—"

"Enough!" Beth raised both hands, palms out and aimed at either of them, looking between them. Annie watched as her chest rose and fell with a sigh, a shake of her head, like she was scolding Danny and Emma on days that they fought over who would get to use the ketchup first. Annie also caught the way Beth's eyes stopped on Rio, expression shifting to something Annie couldn't quite put a finger on, before she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip of bourbon.

"Whatever," Annie grumbled, crossing the floor to the refrigerator. She yanked open the door and start searching, pushing Tupperware and jars out of her way as she searched for the slice of lemon pie that Beth had promised her. She moved to the next level, tossing around bags of cheese and slabs of butter, a pack of yogurt, and then she straightened, spinning around with a hand on her hips. "Where's my pie? I'd like to take it and go before I lose my appetite," she hissed, shooting Rio a glare, who openly laughed at Annie's disgust.

"Pie was yours?" Rio frowned at Annie, furrowing his brows. "Shit, she ain't even tell me. Tough break, sweetheart, that shit was good."

Annie's mouth fell open, shades of red flashing in her vision. "Beth! He ate my pie! You let him eat my pie?!" she cried, frantic and seething, gesturing wildly between the fridge and Rio's lanky form.

"My God," Beth huffed, her body slumping in exasperation, at the same time Rio started booming with laughter again.

"I should—ugh!" Annie held out both hands, mimicking the act of squeezing, her voice shrill and breaking despite the threat. In that moment Rio's role in their lives had faded, as had the memories of him pointing a gun at them, of him shooting Dean, of him just scaring the shit out of them on a regular basis. Maybe this was less about pie and more about the fact that Annie knew he was going to destroy Beth, one way or another, but she couldn't very well come out and say that, could she? No, she knew Beth's pride couldn't take that.

Beth mumbled something else and slammed her glass on the table, the harsh sound jarring the room, and came over to push Annie out of the way. Rio was still snickering as Beth dug through the fridge, head tilted back, looking as amused as Annie had ever seen him. Beth reemerged, pushing a foil-covered plate at Annie's chest before turning to scowl openly at Rio.

Annie didn't even bother looking at the plate now in her hands. She gaped at Beth. "What is this?"

"Your pie!" Beth snapped in her own shrill tone, making a face in Rio's general direction and rolling her eyes.

"Oh." Annie slouched a little, blinking down at the foil. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, glancing up at Rio, who had composed himself and was only looking at her now, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "Why are you still here?" Annie scowled at him again.

"What I just tell you? Business," he countered gruffly, all sign of playfulness from his posture and his voice now gone, replaced by his usual bravado, all jawline and squinting eyes.

"What if she did it?" Beth suddenly blurted out, transferring her weight from one foot to the other. When Annie looked over at her, her attention was on Rio.

Now Rio was the one looking suddenly exhausted. He sucked in his top lip, teeth grazing the skin there as he watched Beth for several seconds, like he was giving her time to say something more, or even take back what she had just suggested, but Annie wasn't sure exactly what Beth was suggesting. "Funny," he finally said, though his tone suggested otherwise.

Beth pursed her lips, head falling to one side as she stared back at him with a strange expression, almost pleading in nature.

"What?" Annie snapped, looking between them with wide eyes. "What did I do?"

"This is on you," Rio said, holding Beth's gaze. "You wanted in, remember?

"I understand that. I do. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm unavailable." Beth spoke slowly, like treading water, and nodded towards Annie. "But I'm not the only that's in, you know. She can do this. She's fully capable."

Annie felt a rush of warmth in her chest. "I am?" She scrambled through her memories, trying to remember a time that Beth had referred to her as capable of anything, and she couldn't remember a single time, except maybe on one of those off-situations where Beth was comforting her little sister after an exceptional fuck-up. "Wait," she said again, shaking her head, speaking even as Rio was talking over her, "I'm capable of what exactly?"

"This ain't a debate."

"It's a discussion."

"You serious about this?" He leaned forward, elbows resting on the counter, his stare intensifying. "And what happens when she can't do it? When she chokes? You think you can handle that, baby sister gettin' shot 'cause you weren't available?" He spat out the last word like an accusation, and Annie froze, swallowing hard.

Beth rolled her eyes. "Why would she get shot?"

"'Cause that's what happens, darlin'. You mess up, you die. This shit's real simple," Rio retorted, jaw rocking. "Until it's not," he added, straightening.

"Whoa," Annie interrupted loudly, stepping up to the counter herself. "Would somebody mind telling me what exactly I'm getting shot over? I mean, despite popular opinion, it sounds like this is business I might actually need to be involved in."

Rio and Beth finally stopped eye fucking each other long enough to look at her, Rio's expression controlled while Beth appeared a little nervous, but whether it was about what Rio had just said or what Annie was going to say, it wasn't clear.

"And just so we're clear," Annie continued, narrowing her eyes at Rio and hooking a thumb at Beth, "this one's not the only sister that can get shit done. Just because I don't pout my lips and push out my tits at—"

"Annie!"

"What?!"

"Shut up," Rio barked. "Both of you."

And even though it pissed Annie off, made her want to slap him, she immediately recoiled, a little shamefully, but Beth was on the move. She watched her sister come around the corner, the speed of her movements pushing a gust of air at Annie's back as she passed her. Beth stopped right in front of Rio, arms crossed. "I'm sorry that you're not happy about this, partner, and I'm sorry that you have to skip a day of barking orders at me, but my daughter has a recital, okay? I am a mother. That is not going to change, and I am not going to skip my daughter's dance recital when there is a perfectly reasonable alternative. Do you understand?"

Annie sucked in a breath, watching Rio watch Beth, his chin jutted. She wondered, briefly, if they were really as close as Annie thought, or if they just seemed especially close because the moment was so tense.

Neither of them moved for several moments, but eventually some of the tension seemed to pass from Rio's body, his chest deflating. After a few more seconds passed, he lowered his chin and leaned in to Beth, just barely. "Fine. This one's on you." He picked up his gaze, meeting Annie's open stare, making her recoil again. "You got plans on Friday, cancel 'em."

Annie tore her gaze from him, looking uncertainly at her sister. "Why?"

"We're gonna take a little trip to Indianapolis," Rio answered. "You and me."

"You're kidding, right? That's hours away."

Rio shrugged.

"Why?" she asked again, more forcefully, her face twisting.

"It's a drop," Beth supplied, an almost apologetic look on her face when she finally turned around to face Annie. Annie felt the color draining from her face, her heart sinking, because no, this wasn't what she did at all. Beth was the one that handled the drops, that drove the car, that got into vehicles with Gangfriend and rode around with him, doing who knows what, except Annie knew what they did. That had to make it worth it, right? Boning the gang lord had to make all of this dangerous crap at least a little bit—

"What? You scared?" Rio asked, mocking, and then he was suddenly moving towards the back door, and Annie briefly, pointlessly wondered if Beth had ever bothered telling him that her house had a front door. "Nah, man, she's too green," he was saying over his shoulder to Beth, already pulling the door open. "You wanna play fast and loose with her life, that's cool and all, but I ain't goin' nowhere with somebody I ain't counting on."

"I'm not green," Annie hissed, finding her voice. She folded her arms against her chest, standing a little taller. "Okay, maybe I'm a little green with like, all of this you have going on, but let's not forget who was running from cops and doing drug runs in high school, whereas this one," she waved a palm in Beth's direction, "was waving pom-poms at football games."

Rio's expression looked no more convinced, but he had stopped moving and was standing there, door ajar and fingers gripping the side of it. Annie saw his jaw rocking, watched him considering it. "I ain't holding your hand through it," he said at last.

"Like I would ask you to," Annie shot back.

Rio hummed at that, eyes resting on her lazily, like he was in no immediate hurry to offer her any approval. "Cool," he said at last, cocking his head. "Need to be on the road by 3, so your ass better be ready by 2. Wear something..." His eyes swept over her small frame again, pausing, then settling on, "presentable."

She scoffed, arms tightening against her chest, but she left it alone, not wanting to let on how affronted she felt by the comment, whatever it meant. When he looked like he was going to leave again, Annie blurted, "Don't you like, need my address?"

"Oh, I'll look you up," he said coolly, which shot a shiver down Annie's spine and prickled her skin.

"Thank you." It was Beth who said it, Annie catching a small smile on her face, but Beth was already turning away from both of them, walking a little too loosely as she started towards the staircase, the alcohol clearly taking effect.

"Pom-poms, huh?" Rio suddenly called to Beth's retreating form, grinning, almost leering, and Beth stopped, hesitating at the bottom step before silently ascending the steps.

*

This dude was late—like, late even by Annie's standards.

She stood at the window in her living room, pulling the curtain aside to look down at the complex's parking lot. She scanned the rows of cars for Rio's black Cadillac, or a black Escalade, or any other shady, dark, pimped out vehicle that would pass as suitable for the art of drug running, but the cars there were no different than the last time she checked, which had to be at least five minutes ago. She let go of the curtain and rubbed her sweaty palms on the front of her jeans, and honestly, if she weren't radiating nervous energy, she would probably be preparing a lengthy speech to deliver Gangfriend when, or if, he finally showed up.

She let out a small whimper, shoulders sagging, and turned away from the window, deciding that she should probably try to eat something. It wasn't like this guy was the drive-thru type, right?

"You ever clean this place?"

Annie gasped, sucking in air so fast that her vision blurred, covering her chest with one hand and throwing the other out to brace herself against the first thing she could connect with, which turned out to be a lamp. The lamp wobbled with Annie's weight, and she fumbled to correct herself, exhaling loudly when she finally did. Her vision refocused in time to watch him move in to the apartment, the door still open behind him.

It took her a few beats to recover, but she did, eyes shifting to the lamp as she adjusted the shade. "You ever knock?" she returned, the words coming off of a long sigh.

"I scare you?" His expression registered a brief second of mock surprise before he just grinned, now standing by her sofa. "Could'a fooled me. Your sister's a screamer."

She squeezed her eyes shut, gut twisting, bile rising in her throat, and thank god she hadn't eaten yet, because she would've puked right there. She kept her mouth shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a response, which was probably the hardest thing she had done in a long time. He picked up a stray shirt that was thrown across the arm of her couch, turning it over in his hands with a disapproving look before tossing it back down.

"You're late. You told me to be ready forever ago," she forced herself to say, accusing, shooting imaginary lasers at his head with her eyeballs. "On the road by 3, remember? It's almost 5 now, bee-tee-dubs. It's not like we didn't wash enough cash for you to buy like, a bajillion fancy watches."

Rio shrugged. "Saved me from havin' to wait on you." She scoffed at that, ready to read him the Riot Act, but he was already on the move, making a circle around her couch before ending back up at her open door. "Let's go," he instructed.

Her objections died before they were ever fully formed in her brain. She shook her head, casting her eyes down to the thick green turtleneck and black jeans that she had put on, the look completed by a pair of combat boots. She spread her arms at her sides. "Well, Dad? Is this acceptable?" Her voice was thick with contempt, gaze lifting to challenge him.

He paused briefly to look at her, barely acknowledging her, his tone careless when he said, "Seen better." He disappeared back into the hall after that, but not before Annie caught sight of him trying to smother a grin, leaving her to glare openly at the space where he had stood, and then she was picking up her bag from the floor and checking for her phone before locking the apartment.

She caught up to him at the bottom of the stairs, swinging her bag over one shoulder. She followed him to the parking lot, surprised to see him approach a white Jetta. "Sick ride," she quipped, walking around to the passenger's side. He shot her a disinterested glance before ducking into the driver's seat. Despite the tepid, suburban look of his choice in transportation, it was undeniably sleek on the inside. The interior was black leather with chrome features and a large screen that displayed vibrant widgets after Rio started the car. She peered into the backseat and hummed in appreciation, fidgeting with her seat controls as he pulled onto the main road.

"Could we maybe, like, grab some food or something?"

"No."

"Ohhh-kay," she said slowly, sounding out the syllables as she slumped. "But a road trip's not really a road trip without—"

"This ain't a road trip. It's a drop."

"Right, but... I'm hungry."

He exhaled sharply, shifting in his seat. "That's not my problem, is it?"

"So we're just going to skip dinner?" Annie wrinkled her nose.

"Guess you are."

She gave him an inquisitive look before spotting a drink in a cup holder of the center console. There was no logo on the side of the Styrofoam cup, but being the take-out expert that she was, she knew it was probably from the burger joint a few blocks over. It was Sadie's favorite. "Dude!" she cried, falling back in her seat, pouting as she eyed the cup. She could see a dark, carbonated liquid through the opaque lid, probably Coke. It was a weird thing, imaging Rio drinking a soda. Like she knew there was a human under every slasher killer's mask, but that didn't make it less weird to think about, right? "They were all out of liquid evil, or what?" she muttered, more to herself than to him.

In response, he picked up the cup, and brought the straw to his mouth, sipping the liquid until she could hear him sucking in air, the cup empty. He slurped for several seconds, shooting her sideways glance.

"Mature," she said, glaring. She crossed her arms and slumped further in her seat, looking straight ahead. They had merged onto the interstate, which was pretty backed up considering it was literally rush hour on Friday night. She considered giving him more shit for being late, but she kind of needed to pick her battles here. The drive to Indianapolis was over four hours, and with the way traffic was looking, they wouldn't make it out of Detroit for close to an hour. She started moving knobs on the radio until she determined which one changed the channel. When she found one playing a familiar Taylor Swift tune, she left it there and leaned back again.

Approximately half a second later, he turned the radio off, and she jerked forward.

"Oh, com'on! You don't just turn off T-Swift, man!"

"Listen to that lily shit on your own time," he replied, mumbling, like he pretty much always did.

"Fine," she hissed, and then she steeled herself to continue, "so you pick a station. I'm not spending four hours listening to highway, you breathing, and the sound of my resilience slowly dying."

That at least got a begrudging chuckle out of him. He turned the radio back on, though Taylor had long finished singing, and scanned stations until he settled on one playing The Temptations. She didn't know what she was expecting him to pick, but she didn't think that was it. She had vague memories of being at Ruby's house growing up and hearing this kind of music playing softly from the kitchen while Ruby's mom made them breakfast on days that Annie and Beth's mom wouldn't open her door. Annie felt something, maybe nostalgia, and decided that she liked it, the feeling and the music.

"Ruby's mom liked this stuff," she said.

A rough sound came up from his throat, a sound that was clearly meant to reflect annoyance. "Her mom like silence?"

"She liked me," Annie shot back, wrinkling her nose at him. "I was a really cute kid."

Rio hummed at that, but was otherwise surprisingly quiet on the subject. A few moments later, he shifted in his seat, leaning towards her a little bit. "You know Ruby a long time?" he asked, the question catching her off guard. "Hey, I'm just sayin' she seems a little too put together to be choosing you two for company as an adult."

"What, like me and Beth aren't put together?" She used her fingers to make quotation marks on the last two words. He turned his head to look her in the eye, an expression on his face that seemed to ask, Seriously? She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay. So I could use some work. But Beth is like, the definition of put together. You should see the woman organize silverware. Yeah, I said silverware, like forks and spoons and knives."

"So she's a housewife?" He shook his head, an odd expression crossing his face before his attention returned to the road. He didn't immediately speak, and neither did she, but then he was snickering and shaking his head all over again. "She's really got y'all fooled, huh?"

Annie stared at him, taking a little longer to respond this time. She wanted to ask what he meant, thought of asking, but she didn't need to. She knew what he meant without either of them having to verbalize it. Hell, Annie wasn't sure she even could. "No," she finally said. "Just herself." She watched as his jaw rocked, the nerves in his face twitching at the tension there, and an unease settled in the pit of her stomach.

So she tried to change the subject again. "Ruby's our person," she remarked.

"Huh?"

She shot him a look, her eyes full of mock pity. The guy probably didn't even own a TV, let alone participate in modern rituals like binge watching Grey's Anatomy. "Oh, ye of little pop culture references! She's our person. If we murder someone, she's the person we call to help us get rid of the body."

"Nah, that's me!" Rio argued, looking genuinely amused. Annie blinked at him. He was gesturing to himself, laughing bitterly. "Yeah, I'm that person, 'cause all you bitches do is call me and cry about bodies and feds, or whatever else pops off on Real Housewives of fuckin' boring suburbia."

Her face drained of color, realizing what she had said and simultaneously recalling Boomer's body rolling around in the back of Beth's care. "God, you ruin everything," Annie grumbled, crossing her arm. She was pissed that he was still calling them bitches and more than pissed that she was too flustered to comment on his reality TV reference.

She glared out the passenger's window, ignoring the nausea that came with watching other cars pass. Both of them had shifted back to their rightful doors, creating distance between the other, the moment of pleasantries having long passed. She didn't know how much time passed after that, the two of them ignoring each other, because she refused to look away from her window, but eventually she started moving in her seat, squirming in discomfort.

"What now?" he barked, sounding furious.

"I have to pee!" Annie whimpered.

Rio groaned, swiping a hand over his face, but he did nothing else to acknowledge her admission. He continued in the left lane, going well over the speed limit. They had made it through the traffic of downtown Detroit and were now passing signs that showed mileage for reaching the Ohio state line, and for Toledo.

"Seriously, do you want me to get a kidney infection?"

"I don't give a shit."

"Yeah, obviously!"

The car fell silent again after that. Annie had pulled her knees up to her chest, chin tucked, and was trying to ignore the dull ache in her bladder. Sadie had made jokes about this before, about Annie having a bladder the size of a pea, not unkindly. Greg had made similar comments, but he was definitely more of an asshole about it. She was reminiscing on the times that she and Greg had argued about this same thing when she realized that they were exiting the highway. She sucked in her bottom lip, refusing to look at Rio until he turned his blinker on for a gas station just off the highway.

"Hurry up," he ordered, parking at a gas pump. She obeyed, hopping out of the car and making a run for the store. When she returned, he was closing the lid on his gas tank and shoving his wallet back into his jacket pocket. He looked over his shoulder, watching her walk quietly back to the passenger's side and climb back in. Once they were both inside and back on the road, she sighed.

"My kidneys thank you," she said. She wasn't surprised when he didn't respond, verbal or otherwise, so she just leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, deciding to be nice. It seemed like the nicest thing to do was shut up and try to sleep through this car ride. She was lulled by the movement of the car and the hum of the engine, and had just begun to doze off when he spoke up.

"Your sister really a cheerleader?"

The comment was like a punch to the chest. She opened her eyes, kind of wanting to barf, but instead she just smirked in his direction. "Like you're surprised," she remarked.

"She date jocks?"

"She dated Dean."

He hesitated, maybe picking up on the contempt in her tone, and then asked, "She date anybody else?"

"Nope. Just safe, boring Dean."

"He a jock?"

"He's an idiot. So, yeah, basically."

The corner of his lip twitched. "What were you?"

"A delinquent," she deadpanned, and he actually laughed. She sat a little straighter, tilting her head as she peered at him. "You were totally a bad kid too, right? I can just see it now—little you tagging stuff, kicking teachers. Selling gum at recess."

"Nah, I was straight. Played ball."

She blinked. "Football?"

"Baseball," he said matter-of-factly.

She stared hard at the side of his face. "No way." He laughed again, low and hoarse this time, rolling his neck to give her a better look at him, or maybe so he could get a better look at her. For the first time she noticed how relaxed he looked, using one hand on top of the wheel to steer. "You were a jock?" she asked now, still disbelieving.

"I was an athlete," he corrected, a little too proudly. "Never even got detention."

"What happened?"

He shrugged, gazing lazily in her direction. "What happened to you?"

Ouch. "Fair enough," she muttered. She tried to let it go, she really did, but the act of trying to divert energy away from her mouth just made her squirm again. "Okay, seriously, just tell me if it was like, a pride thing, or a family thing, or..."

"A life thing," he interjected, the irritation having returned in his tone. "When did she marry him?"

"Dean? I dunno, like... a million years ago," she snorted, but he stayed quiet, waiting. She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to remember. She didn't spend a lot of time thinking about when Dean had entered their lives or when he had officially become a part of the family, probably because he had been around since Annie was really small. Judging Dean had become as second nature to her as breathing. But when she started pulling for one memory, they all resurfaced pretty easily. She remembered Beth complaining about the taboo that came with being a teenage bride. "It was right after her twentieth birthday," Annie recounted aloud, staring off into space as she spoke. "It took a long time for her to get pregnant the first time. I think she went to doctors. It's kind of funny now, right? I mean, she popped the rest out like a Pez dispenser."

"She went alone?"

"Huh?"

"You said she went to doctors. Not him?"

"No way. It's Dean. I don't think he cared much at first," Annie said, a little too haughtily. She hesitated before adding, "I don't think he cares all that much now, if I'm being honest. But don't bother trying to tell Beth that."

"How many other women?"

Annie's face reddened, heat spreading down to her neck, and she clenched her jaw. He was staring hard, eyes flitting between her and the road. It occurred to her what he was asking her, what they had actually been talking about, and she felt her stomach churn. She didn't know why, but she had the distinct feeling that she had betrayed Beth somehow. She swallowed, her throat suddenly thick, and looked away.

Rio narrowed his eyes. "That many, huh?"

"What did she tell you?" She glanced back at him, cautious, a little weary.

He ignored the question. "You ever tell her to leave?"

"Constantly," Annie blurted.

"But she stays." It wasn't a question.

"It's complicated," she tried, and immediately hated herself for it. She sounded just like Beth. She had no idea why she was trying to justify her sister's poor choice, but it wasn't really a poor choice, was it? It was a safe choice. It was a choice for her children. Annie groaned suddenly, her entire body slumping in defeat. "They have kids together, a mortgage. A whole life together, man. She can't just leave, you know? I know that, I do. But sometimes it's like the kids and the house and the bills—it's all an excuse. Because if she did it, really did it, she would have to be alone. And I think for her, that's kind of like failing. Beth's never failed at anything." She was surprised at how easily the words came out, but it was still a relief to say them. She was honest with Beth, but not honest like that, and she couldn't tell Ruby in those words, because Ruby was almost always on Beth's side.

Suddenly remembering who she was talking to, she pursed her lips and looked at him, hesitant, but he was staring ahead, silent. The atmosphere in the car had changed, like all of the air had been sucked out and replaced by the weight of she had said. She couldn't tell if he was considering what she said or if he had just grown bored of the subject, but whatever his expression was, it didn't look like disinterest to her. She considered him, all of him—the small twitch of his jaw muscles, the upward curve of his lashes, the sharp angle of his cheekbones. And then she considered where that face had been, what that mouth had done to her sister and what else he could do Beth's heart.

Annie didn't feel good. It wasn't hunger or exhaustion, or any tangible thing that she could name, it was just—

"I need a nap," she muttered, scooting down in her seat. She angled her body towards the door and curled up in the seat as best as she could, letting her head rest on the strap of her seat belt. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused instead on the sound of the upbeat tempo vibrating from the speakers. He remained silent, and she couldn't figure out if that was better or worse than responding to what she had said about Beth.

She fell asleep still thinking about her big sister, her protector, the cleaner-upper of all messes, and about Dean, and about how, even though Rio was volatile and violent and a terrible, horrible idea—well, at least Annie knew what Beth saw in one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a two-parter, so stay tuned!


End file.
